The long-term objectives of this study are to characterize oral biota with respect to patterns of transmission from parents to offspring, and a reported association between periodontal disease in mothers and low birthweight infants. This proposal, which focuses on three specific goals to be addressed by three different developing faculty, has as Its unifying characteristic the study of oral and oral-related health issues in a cohort of African American women and their infants. This Birmingham based population also serves as the target population for the Specialized Caries Center at UAB. The study has been confined to this group for two reasons: 1) African Americans have a higher prevalence and severity of caries and periodontal disease than the general population. 2) by constraining the study population we will have more power for examining microbiological parameters by having less variation in the genetic composition of the study cohort. Outcomes from this research may help devise methods for preventing or treating oral disease in this traditional underserved population. For the purposes of research and development issues in the RRCMOH, this population represents an excellent learning and research resource, and an opportunity to integrate new questions into an ongoing study. The specific aims in this proposal to be addressed by 1) Dr. John Turner, 2) Dr. Doryck Boyd, and 3) Dr. Cherae Farmer-Dixon are to: 1. Determine, using a combination of conventional plating, and biochemical and molecular characterization, the source of initial infection by Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii. The hypotheses are that the indigenous oral flora is vertically transmitted from mother to child, that a window of infectivity exists which differs for the two species of actinomyces and that specific factors influence acquisition of actinomyces. 2. Look for evidence of increased periodontal disease and increased exposure to oral Gram-negative infections in human mothers who may experience an abnormal pregnancy outcome (APO), to evaluate the hypothesis that periodontal infections in pregnant mothers are a risk factor for APOs, and provide opportunities for faculty and students at Meharry to gain the vital experience necessary to conduct research to evaluate the immunologic response to oral Infections as it may relate to APOs and to gain hands-on laboratory experience in performing seroreactive profiles. 3. Using a combination of replica plating and molecular characterization, perform a retrospective and prospective study of the association between numbers of amalgam fillings and levels of mercury and antibiotic resistant oral streptococci, and determine patterns of transmission of resistant strains from mothers to children.